Signing their books at an author event (of course, with wonderful, adoring fans)

Earning big bucks for their published works

Signing a movie contract for one of their books

More writing

So there you have it! Writers with full time jobs would rather do pretty much anything besides their full time jobs to promote their book business because their passion is all about books and writing them.

There are so many genres of novels out there today but one of the most popular genres is Romance.

I write in a sub-genre of Romance called Paranormal Romance. I love the freedom involved with creating all types of worlds in one book with beings with unearthly powers while staying true to a basic, romantic story outline. It’s true that every romance story has a general outline: getting to know one another, coming together, separation and returning together for an HEA. But the wonderful thing about romance is that anything else goes, especially within the realm of Paranormal Romance.

Want to explore a certain subject or two and find out what your created character does with that subject once it’s approached in the story? This is what I love doing in my books. My stories with Angels address all kinds of unique, sometimes uncomfortable situations. I like to see how the Angels deal with these very human details of life or average life encounters. For example in Centurion’s book, April and Centurion learn what a passion party is. The conclusion of the party leads to an amazing encounter that none of them expected but fuels the movement of their relationship.

Paranormal subjects also explore unearthly magic and opportunities. Anything you can envision, you can create and slip into a book. The more creative you get, the more captivated your audience might be. My Angels use force fields at times, get a crowd to forget an incident when it might be harmful to them, and even break the rules to assist their mates. For instance, in Jasper’s book, when his mate Tatiana is heart-broken over the loss of her beautiful beagle mix, Jasper infuses her with heaven’s love despite the fact that it’s forbidden, to help her get through her beagle’s emotional anniversary date.

Standard rules do not always apply in Paranormal Romance books. In Apollo’s book, gravity is defied when the couple affirm their love and commitment to each other, in the air. Not only can you create worlds, powers and supernatural beings but you can also add wit and comical situations to captivate the readers’ attention and to keep the story hopping and more interesting. I love the part where April asks Centurion about a substance called ambrosia that is supposed to make humans immortal. Here’s the quick ending to the scene:

“Does anything exist to make one immortal?” April commented.

“Yes, it’s called the afterlife.”

“Centurion! I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

Hahaha. That one always has me chuckling. You see, another reason why I love writing about Angels is because they can say something that is both comical and serious at the same time. When Centurion says “so am I,” he’s affirming that he is serious too but he states it in a humorous, light-hearted manner.

Out of all of the subgenres within the Romance category, these are a few reasons why I, specifically, love Paranormal Romance. Creating exotic and sometimes erotic worlds with superhuman beings that don’t exist (or exist but maybe not necessarily in the way they are depicted in a book) except in our minds is really fun. Everyone who likes romance has a reason for their preference and these are some of mine and my thoughts for today.

Do you know what’s interesting? Most don’t realize how expensive it is to be a writer.

I just finished itemizing all of the costs associated for my writing business and that is the figure I came up with. I have spent $2,668.94, in 2016, just to keep my writing career afloat. This doesn’t include: the cost of monthly Internet, cell phone costs for keeping in touch with my readers and PA’s by phone, text, or internet and purchases I made before I started keeping receipts to itemize, later. It also doesn’t include all the time, energy and sweat I invested in writing my books and keeping my business running smoothly and organized. However, this grand figure does include: purchasing books, payments to companies for hosting me in their events, gathering reviews for me, purchasing countless amounts of swag, keeping up a blog/site to keep in contact with readers, and mailing items to readers that have won my contests and giveaways, all in the effort to promote/market my books, world-wide.

All I can say is WOW! When you look at the grand total, it really makes you think. A beginning writer, like me, is lucky to make anything close to this in the first couple of years… if ever. It makes you consider whether you want to keep writing or not. For this amount of money, I could’ve taken a relaxing vacation in Hawaii, but instead I was trying to promote/market and entertain my readers with the hopes of gaining new readers, in the long run.

Authors definitely do what they do for Love. Like many readers, authors don’t have money either. They don’t have the extra cash, readily available, to plug into their business hence the reason why most authors work somewhere else to gain the money to do what they love on a part-time basis, instead of not doing it at all. Can you imagine if every author realized how expensive their writing career was and just dropped out? Stopped writing. Started using that cash to do something else fun, like travel. What would we, readers, do to entertain ourselves if there were no more books left on the shelves to read?

Thankfully, authors continue to write despite the fact that there’s little financial reward involved. Many unknown authors write great books and it’s a shame they remain in the shadows. So the next time you think you can’t afford a book, take a second and think about the one who wrote it and all the time, energy and love they put into that book that they may never recover in financial gain.

Do something wonderful and unexpected today for an author(s) you Love and let them know what you think about their work and what is it about their books that you enjoy. Give them kudos to keep them going. Authors soak this up like water on a hot day but, sadly, praise is sporadic at times or rare. By telling an author you care and to keep writing, you will have added joy to their day and meaning to their career. So, what are you waiting for? Spread some love and joy today and tell an Author to keep writing!

So, I am no longer an Author with my first Publisher, Luminosity Publishing. It is a sad, bittersweet ending and an outcome I hoped never would happen but because they don’t take the stories I write anymore, we had to sadly separate. However, I am thankful that they gave me a chance and that they published three of my books. At first, they were enthusiastic about my books and they gave me an opportunity to pursue my passion and my interest and for that I will forever be grateful.

and to them I am grateful for picking me up during a very troubling, heart-wrenching time in my life when I realized I no longer had a Publisher but I still wanted to write. It was one of the worst moments of my life of feeling lost and abandoned. My fourth book Apollo was under contract with Luminosity Publishing at the time but they decided to change what they would publish and unfortunately my M/F Paranormal Romance, Apollo, was not under their new guidelines of what they would take so my signed contract was defunct when I was expecting it to be published in September 2016.

So here I was scrambling with the horrendous setback in my writing career, trying to re-focus and stop crying and figure out what to do with a manuscript that was no longer being published. Despite my sweet friend Michael’s re-assurances that this was all for a reason, I sat at my computer between endless tears sending out query after query (after figuring out again how to write one), essentially pleading to Publishers, letting them know of my plight; however, one bit of a surprise happened for me, as a result of my query letters- I was really surprised with all I’ve accomplished in only two years of being Published. I mean – I am Searchable – wow- when two years ago I wasn’t. And I proudly sent query after query, outlining my accomplishments, the endless social media sites I am on, all the while marveling at the knowledge I’ve gained within the Author world that I didn’t know just two years ago.

** What a painful experience for an Author to go through ** watching my books being taken down one by one when I worked so hard for them to be read and seen, watching as I was evicted from the Luminosity Authors group and my information taken down off the site, but I’m so glad my frightening period of limbo didn’t last long for me before another Publisher realized the value of my work and what I was trying to accomplish. So, a big thank you to Foundations from this one little ol’ Author who is trying to make it in this big, big world. I appreciate your confidence in me and your support!!!

~* I have to also thank my fans, readers and supporters, especially my Street Team members for rallying behind me and for being so patient because so many were affected by this upset with my previous Publisher ~*. Many read all of my books and were awaiting the Release of the next one that was under contract: Apollo, The Guardian League, Bk 3 and now they’ve had to push back their own plans as I’ve had to and wait longer. However, the good news is my Publisher, Foundations, also loved Apollo and snatched it up under contract within days of me sending it to them- it’s expected release date is in December 2016- just in time for the Holidays!

And to all of you who love my work, follow me and support me, I thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for sharing this journey with me. I will have more books for you to enjoy soon! **

You ever get down? I mean really down. Like the lowest of the low. Like so low you don’t think you can rise up again. Like your heart aches and something massive is just sitting on it and won’t let up. This ever happen to you?

I asked Authors what they do when they get this way. When they feel like their purpose for writing has dimmed somewhere beyond in the shadows, unreachable. When they look at their sales diminishing and wonder why this is happening when they’ve done nothing but promote? When the thought runs across their mind that they might be a failure but didn’t know it- didn’t recognize the tell tales signs.

Authors go through mood swings more rapidly than medicine can cure. It’s a wonder we still retain some of our sanity. From writing a book to editing/critiquing/ feeling utter hopelessness when comparing our measly sentences with any other authors’ work. We are the most critical on ourselves but it’s for a purpose for if we didn’t shred, obliterate and even trash our own work, re-writing words that end up into lengthy paragraphs, often re-working and molding our characters for our readers’ tastes, then we’d be left with a rough shell of a novel no one would enjoy.

It’s the moments when we wonder why we go on and we compare ourselves to those who actually earn a living at writing that we have to be careful about. If we get to a point where we want to wallow in our misery and sob our eyeballs out that we are not JK Rowling, that’s an indication to step away from the computer and do something else. It could be writing a blog like this to get all your feelings out, taking a very long walk, indulging in a hobby, eating chocolate as one novelist recommended, or doing anything else to give ourselves a break because- truthfully- when do we do that? When are we kind to ourselves, instead?

If you’re a writer, then you know with every year and every new book you write, you gain experience. Think back at your first manuscript, at your first endeavor into social media, at your first blog you wrote and realize all the knowledge you gained along the once treacherous, undefined path. You have done a great job, my friend! Pat yourself on the back and stop kicking yourself. If after all you’ve encountered, learned and experienced, you are still writing, then there is a reason for it and the world is waiting for you to grace it with your next novel.

However, please, take the time to love yourself and think positive when times are rough and when you think you don’t have enough sales and support. They will come. I hope that I have helped you in some small way along your journey. I know that I, too, need reassurances along the way to continue and even though not every Author may support you, I do!

When you get down, take the time that you need to sit back, relax and re-energize. Reassurance can come in different forms and it can be as simple as a few words of encouragement. Mine came tonight from a friend who reassured me that I am loved beyond infinity, forever and ever. What a sweet message. I am smiling as I write this. This was all that I needed to write this article to encourage you, my fellow authors to continue doing what you do best- spreading joy, light and love through your words, whether they be in a blog, article, or a book- you are valued- never forget that.